Excavations in ancient city of Smyrna reveal figurines of ancient artists

Bringing light to the social, cultural and political life of the period, excavation of Smyrna Theatre in Izmir province, which was covered by earth 1,500 years ago, continues. The team conducting excavations on behalf of Dokuz Eylul University (DEU) at the nearly 2,400-year-old ancient city of Smyrna by courtesy of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has reached a part of the ancient city's theatre, located on the side of Kadifekale. They found terracotta figurines, which show the appearance of famous artists of the period – an expression of admiration and kept in the Smyrna Theatre, during the excavations.

Credit: AA

DEU Archaeological Department Assoc. Prof. Akin Ersoy, the head of the excavation at the ancient city of Smyrna, said that excavations at the theatre began in 2012 and revealed the first steps. Noting that the theatre had a capacity of nearly 19,000 people and was built in the third century BC, Ersoy said that the size of the theatre in Smyrna could compete with the size of the theatre in Ephesus.

Saying that the structural features of the theatre shed light on the social, cultural and political life of the period, Ersoy added: "We found pieces of many figurines at the archaeological excavations. It is clear that figurines of actors were kept by their fans like people have a photo or picture of the artists that they admire today. These kinds of figurines can be seen at theatres. If we think that there was no photo in the past, this was a way to keep a memory of admired people in those times. For example, the names of gladiators were written on the walls of the Smyrna Agora along with their paintings. It is understood that there were some people who loved and supported them. We can describe them as a fan club."

Source: Daily Sabah [February 03, 2019]